To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs

So THAT's how they wrote Tony DiNozzo out of 'NCIS'

Jayme Deerwester, USA TODAY 11:43 a.m. EDT May 18, 2016

Robert Wagner's Anthony DiNozzo Sr. was a rock for his son.

This story contains major spoilers about the Season 13 finale of NCIS. If you haven\'t watched the episode yet, then you\'d best get out of the secure compartmentalized information facility now. If you keep reading and then complain, Gibbs will come smack you upside the head.

This story also focuses on Tony DiNozzo\'s storyline and may make more sense to fans who aren\'t up to date on the show\'s latest developments. If you want more details from the current season, our friends at Happily Ever After have you covered.

Last month, departed NCIS star Côte de Pablo threw cold water on fan speculation that her character, Ziva David, might come back for Michael Weatherly\'s sendoff.

She did not appear herself but Ziva\'s shadow loomed large over the season finale.

Gibbs\' team learned of a mortar attack on the country home of Ziva\'s late father, Mossad chief Eli David, where the former NCIS agent had been staying. When news broke that one had survived the attack, Tony raced home to pack so he could catch a flight to Israel. While he was in transit, McGee and Abby learned that Ziva was not the survivor and went to his condo to break the news to a devastated DiNozzo.

Weatherly is ready to turn in a very special 'NCIS' badge

After getting the news, he rushed back to the office, only for Gibbs to tell him he was benched from the investigation because "she was more than an agent to you."

Vance called him in to meet with Mossad director Orli Elbaz (a barely recognizable Marina Sirtis from

), who\'d flown in to deliver her condolences in person, though Tony took no comfort from her words.

"I\'d believe you a lot more if you were back in Israel searching instead of standing here telling us how sorry you are," DiNozzo snarled

"Actually, I\'m here for a much more important reason," the Mossad boss admitted. "Something far more personal."

Then she called for Tali to be brought into the room, confusing the NCIS agents who knew Tali to be Ziva\'s younger sister, who\'d been killed in a Hamas bombing attack.

"You may have heard there was one survivor pulled from the farmhouse," Elbaz explained as a female toddler entered the room. "Tali is Ziva\'s daughter... and your daughter, Tony."

"Ziva assured me you were the only biological possibility," she continued. (So clearly, Ziva and Tony had one humdinger of a farewell in Israel a couple of seasons back.)

Take an 'NCIS' trip down Weatherly lane

"Yes, she\'s the image of her mother, but the eyes are all you, Tony," she pointed out, adding that Tali only knew that her mother had gone away.

"(Ziva) struggled with how to break the news," Elbaz said. "She knew you wouldn\'t be pleased."

"Then she never knew me at all," DiNozzo lamented.

And so he began his first day of fatherhood, not even knowing if little Tali knew who he was. Amazingly, DiNozzo Sr. (Robert Wagner), who often makes Tony look mature and responsible by comparison, was a true rock for his emotional wreck of a son to lean on. So too was Ducky\'s assistant Jimmy, who taught him the tricks of getting a toddler to eat but also planted an important question in Tony\'s mind: "Are you going to come back to work? You\'re an agent in the line of fire."

While digging in the bag that had come with Tali — remembering "your mom always did pack a go-bag" — Tony came across a photo of himself with Ziva, whom Tali identified as "Ima" (Mommy in Hebrew), and then to his utter amazement, pointed to him and says "Abba" (Daddy). So Ziva did tell her who her dad was. He then pulled out the Star of David necklace Ziva had left behind and placed it around their daughter\'s neck.

The nice family moment was interrupted by a call from McGee, who tipped Tony off that the team was about to make a move on Trent Kort, the former CIA operative-gone-very-bad who orchestrated the bombing of the David farmhouse. To put it mildly, Kort is not exactly what you\'d call Tony\'s BFF. He blew his cover in the investigation into arms dealer La Grenouille and may have even been the one who bombed Tony\'s beloved Corvette.

So there\'s no way Kort was going to make it out of this episode alive, which he seemed to realize, though he appeared surprised it wasn\'t Tony on the other end of the gun pointed at him. At least not at first. But you knew DiNozzo was going to show up.

He tried to rationalize his actions, telling Tony, "I had no idea she\'d be in the farmhouse. It was nothing personal, strictly business."

"She was my family," he said before firing the first shot in a barrage of bullets from the team.

Later, he paid a visit to Gibbs\' basement where he tells his boss he\'s made a decision about his future at NCIS. He confessed, "When McGee called, something hit me. I got this feeling I\'d never felt before. In that moment, I didn\'t want Trent Kort dead. All I wanted to do was take care of Tali. Everything that she had in her life was gone. Except me.I\'m it. I\'m that little girl\'s everything and I\'ve never been anybody\'s everything before."

"But you showed up," Gibbs pointed out.

"Yes I did," Tony concurred. "In all kinds of ways. But that\'s it. I\'m done now." Then he collected a rare hug from his perpetually gruff boss.

The next day, he placed his gun and badge on Vance\'s desk and says his goodbyes to the gang. In a private moment in the elevator, Abby tells him that Ziva did really love him and makes sure he knows it. For the teammate he once hazed and called Probie, he has five words: "Very Special Agent Timothy McGee."

He disappeared into the elevator for the last time as Gibbs entered the office and issued the "Grab your gear" command to the rest of the team.

After all, dead bodies wait for no one, not even very special agents.

P.S. It looks like de Pablo finally showed up after all, at least for the viewing party:

Thank you and I love you all- Cote is here with me now! pic.twitter.com/RsmWInjMSl